We’re calling the beer “Fussy X-331 Pale.” We used Nugget for bittering and IH-OSU X-331 for aroma. As with all of our pilot beers, it’s unfiltered.

Normally we’d gladly tell you all about the hop’s aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel. But that might prejudice you. What we’re doing here is scientific. We want your honest sensory evaluation.

We’d like you to come in blind with no preconceived notions and do what the Industrial Beer Flavored Water Brutes either mock or detest – we want you to get fussy!

We can tell you that Indie Hops and OSU have been evaluating this hop since 2009. It’s performed well in farm trials for yield and disease resistance. In terms of parentage, we don’t mind telling you the Mother originates from Germany but this frauline was “open pollinated,” which means her mating partner (the fertilizing father) will remain forever unknown. Fortunately, the Willamette Valley in and around Corvallis is teeming with strong Hop Daddies so we’re sure he’s good breeding stock.

Take a snort and a sip and tell us what you think. All opinions, good or bad, accepted with open arms.

Remember, trained sensory “experts” in blind taste tests have been all over the board even with proven hop heroes. For example, in 2010, when Citra was being pilot tested among a panel of Oregon brewers, the majority of the judges rated the experimental hop as “catty.” A few thought it was “sweaty.” Today, it’s one of the most sought after aroma hops in the world.

Thanks in advance for participating in this fuss-friendly project. We’re going to be doing this a lot at Worthy in the coming years. Indie Hops and OSU have a steady stream of new hop flowers in their pipeline that we’re privileged to be able to fuss over. Let’s see what happens and have fun in the process.

Cheers!

Here is the scorecard which we will provide. Results will be sent to OSU and IH. We appreciate your support.